Hero
by Becks7
Summary: Wheeler's selfless act makes him stand out from the crowd. His actions don't go unnoticed.


**Well, this was random and sudden. I saw a post on Facebook this weekend on World AIDS Day from the Captain Planet page, and it told of how after the episode "Formula For Hate" (about a high school student who got HIV) aired, the cast was at an event with children who had HIV/AIDS. One of the kids got a nose bleed and Joey Dedio (the voice of Wheeler) stepped in to help him. I thought to myself, "I could see Wheeler doing this." And then the rest is history. Just a short one shot from Linka's point of view.**

**Thanks as always to LouiseX for letting me know it's not crap and ok to post. :) **

**Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm not making any money from my little hobby.**

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It is World AIDS Day and the Planeteers have been asked to participate in a gathering at a treatment facility in South Africa. Countries like the United States and United Kingdom have made significant strides in treating the disease, which is great, but also has taken it "off the radar." In Africa though, the epidemic is still very much a problem, so we are here to do our part to educate and offer support. Other guests included celebrities much more famous than us like Elton John, Madonna, David Beckham, and members of the British Royal Family. Needless to say, there was less attention being paid to us.

At the moment, my interest was on the current speaker, David Beckham, something that I knew had gotten the Yankee's attention. He is funny like that. Of course neither I nor any other woman has a chance with him, as he is happily married, but that does not stop me and Gi from appreciating the view.

"Pssht…Like being a soccer player is a big deal. Any idiot can run around and kick a ball," Wheeler mumbles.

"And any idiot can mouth off and be a jealous jerk," Gi says back.

"Whatever," Wheeler crosses his arms and leans back in his chair.

I smile to myself. _How does it feel, Yankee?_

He is always making comments about how 'hot' female celebrities are when we are watching movies or TV. It is only fair that I should also be able to have my moments of appreciation.

"…prison tattoos," I hear him mutter.

"Body art," Gi hisses.

"And what a body it is," I add, digging the dagger in a little deeper.

Wheeler snorts and puffs out his chest.

_Da, Yankee, I've noticed your body too, but I will not give you the satisfaction of knowing that._

A small commotion in the corner of the audience closest to us draws my attention. A young boy has started to have a nose bleed. Everyone is frozen. Billionaires. Medical staff. Everyone except Wheeler. He immediately leaves his spot on the stage and goes to the boy. Having nothing to use to stop the bleeding, Wheeler takes off his shirt and holds it to the child's nose. The boy is a patient here. He's embarrassed and scared. By now, the medical staff have put on gloves and are ready to treat him, but Wheeler has already taken him in his arms and is leaving the room to give the boy some privacy and get him some help.

Once the "distraction" is gone, the rest of the presentation continues, but my gaze remains on the door that Wheeler exited, waiting for him to return.

"You should go check on him," Ma-Ti leans over to whisper to me.

Kwame looks at me and nods his approval.

"We got this," Gi says.

I try to make my way off the stage with as little disruption to the current speaker as possible. I hear Wheeler's voice coming from a room down the hall and when I walk in, I see him still cradling the little boy while a doctor stops the bleeding and cleans the blood from his nose. The boy does not speak English so the doctor is translating Wheeler's calming words to him.

"It's ok. I used to get bloody noses all the time as a kid…people used to like hitting me in the face. I'm lucky I turned out as handsome as I did."

The little boy chuckled as the message was interpreted and says something back. The doctor relays the message to Wheeler.

"He says he is embarrassed that all those people saw him, especially the important ones like the Duke and Duchess and David Beckham."

"I bet David Beckham got bloody noses all the time when he played soccer. Probably took a few balls to the face," Wheeler says as he acts out the scene of pretending get hit in the face with a ball. "He didn't get as lucky as me though and keep his good looks."

Wheeler looks in my direction and winks.

The boy laughs once again once the message is translated.

"Your shirt will have to be disposed of properly. I will have someone bring you some scrubs. You really should not have touched him while he was bleeding without proper protection. You had better be examined. I will take Akani back to his room to rest."

"Will he be ok?" Wheeler asks.

"For now. He has been responding well to treatment. We try to manage the illness as best we can with the resources we have. Treatment is not cheap though and we have so many. It can come down to who needs it most and others get left behind, which then has a negative impact on their treatment protocol."

"So just because someone is doing well, they get punished for it which could then result in their health declining?" I ask in disbelief.

"Yes, unfortunately," the doctor confirms. "Unless they are specifically sponsored. Some of the patients have family members who have the means to pay for their treatment."

"That's bullshit," Wheeler says in disgust.

"I agree. Which is why we are grateful for any help we get from donations and the attention of the celebrities that are here today. They use their money and their social influence to bring awareness to our cause. Stay here. Someone will be in shortly to clean you up and examine you," the doctor says as he takes Akani from Wheeler's arms.

He looks back at Wheeler with a grateful smile and waves.

"Bye Akani," Wheeler waves back.

Once we are the only ones in the room, Wheeler turns to me.

"Go ahead. Lecture me for acting impulsively and putting myself at risk."

"No need for that. Obviously you know, but would do the same thing again."

"Yep."

"I actually came to check on you…and the boy," I quickly cover, not wanting to make my concern **_too_** obvious.

"Aww, you really do care," he says sarcastically.

"Da, I do," I say sincerely as I pull up a chair and sit in front of him, taking his hand in mine and examining it so I can see for myself. I do not have the patience to wait for someone from the medical staff to do it.

I am concerned because he has a habit of biting his nails sometimes when he is nervous, like when we have public speaking events. He bites them down to the skin until they bleed. He is also our main "handy man" on Hope Island. He fixes things all the time, from plumbing to the mechanical work on our vehicles…this often leads to cuts and nicked knuckles. I pray that I do not find anything.

His left hand is clear. I conduct a thorough exam of his right hand as well and sigh with relief when I find nothing of concern. I do not release his hand.

"Durak," I say, affectionately, of course.

"Nag."

He brings my hand up to his lips and kisses it.

"I'm fine, Babe…but thanks for leaving David Beckham to come check on me."

"He does not even know I exist…plus you were the only one who came to Akani's aid. That gives you a _slight_ edge in hotness," I say while trying not to smile. I fail.

"Oh reeeeally?" He coos.

He once again puffs out his chest, this time it is bare and leaves no question as to how attractive he truly is. Inside and out. Can I tell him though?

"You were really good with Akani. You took care of him when he needed someone and you made him feel safe. You got him away from the crowd and comforted him. You stayed with him until he was ok. You did all of that without a second thought. No fear. It was probably the first time anyone has ever treated him like a normal child and not someone with a disease that everyone is scared of."

He shrugs it off. It is hard for him to take compliments because he had spent the first 16 years of his life being criticized.

I place my hand on his cheek to get his attention. Once he makes eye contact, I continue.

"You have complete disregard for yourself. I hate that about you…but everything I said before about what you did for Akani, it is what I love about you…that is just a few of the many things that I love about you."

"Thanks, Babe. That means a lot."

"You are welcome. Just…please be more careful when it comes to your wellbeing. Since David Beckham does not know who I am, I am counting on you to give me attention," I joke.

This makes him laugh and give me one of his trademark smiles.

"You have my undivided attention, Linka."

"And you have mine," I say as I lean in to kiss the opposite cheek of the one that my hand is still resting on. I linger there longer than I should. He turns his head and his lips find mine for a brief moment.

"Sorry," he says as he pulls away.

"No you are not," I whisper as I pull him back towards me. I can feel him smile as I re-join us.

"No, I'm not," he confirms against my lips.

Those are the last words we speak for a while. My hand trails from his cheek, down his neck, chest, and ribs. He lets out a muffled chuckle and I make note that my Yankee is ticklish, but now is not the time for that. Now I just want to let my hands explore what my eyes have admired for years. He must have a similar thought as his free hand rests on my knee before skimming up my thigh, to my hip, along my side, and then comes back down to rest on my hip. Our other hands remain clasped and his thumb rubs a soothing pattern against my skin.

The door opens and we pull apart.

"I brought…oh! Sorry. Doctor Sidali sent me here to bring you these scrubs, examine you for any open wounds, and apply this skin disinfectant."

"Thanks. Dr. Sidali had me wash my hands when we came back here to clean up Akani. I don't have any open wounds. I'm fine," he says.

"Wheeler, just let her check and do her job. We have to make sure we take every precaution," I tell him.

The nurse begins her exam and applies the disinfectant to Wheeler's hands.

"Your girlfriend is right. And you really should see a doctor when you get home to get an HIV test and then another one in six months. And while I am sure you are well educated on the topic, otherwise, you would not have been invited to speak on the panel, I must do my duty to remind you that while you may be using oral contraceptives to prevent pregnancy, until you receive two negative HIV tests, you should use condoms during intercourse."

"Uhhh," Wheeler stammers.

"Da, of course. Thank you for the reminder," I say just so we can move on from the topic.

"I am all finished here. I will let you get back to the presentation…or whatever you'd like to get back to doing," she says with a knowing smile.

"Thanks," Wheeler and I say in unison, our faces both going red.

"Well that was awkward. I'm sorry she just made those assumptions about us," he says.

"It is ok…what else was she supposed to think considering what she walked in on?"

"Yeah, I guess," he admits.

"Soooo, am I your girlfriend?"

"I would like that very much," he beams.

"Me too. As for the other thing…the protection."

"Look Babe, I have been waiting years just for a kiss…I can wait six more months for anything more. I don't want to put you at risk…even if we did use protection, which I'm totally fine with using, even if I come back clear. I just think we'd both feel better about it if we knew for sure that we were both safe…but that doesn't mean there aren't other things we can do…things I can do for you."

His rambling has gone from sweet to embarrassing. It is all happening so fast.

"Jason, slow down," I say, taking his hand. "I am going to need to take things slow…I was not planning on having to wait six months, but let us just take things a day at a time. I am sure you are fine."

"Sorry, I'm getting way ahead of myself. It was just a kiss…but when it comes to you, I always end up thinking about the future."

"It was more than **_just_** a kiss. And it is ok to think about the future…our future. Believe it or not, I do it too. I just hid it really well."

"No more hiding?"

"No more hiding," I confirm.

He stands and pulls me up with him, leaning down for a much more subdued, but no less loving kiss.

"We'll go slow. Dinner. Movies. Time alone, just talking. Just us…we're better when it's just us."

"Agreed. We can be ourselves…so I want to run something by you since it's a pretty big decision and I want to talk to you about it first."

"Okaaaaaay," I say cautiously.

"I didn't grow up with much. I don't have a ton of spare money, but what I do have, I'd like to use to sponsor Akani so he gets the care that he needs."

"Oh Wheeler," I say as I kiss him once again. "I think that is a wonderful idea."

"Yeah? It means I won't be able to afford as many fancy dates or give you the kind of gifts that you deserve on special occasions."

"YOU are my gift. What you want to do for Akani makes me feel…I cannot even describe it. So happy. So lucky to have someone with a heart as big as yours in my life. Knowing that you give everything you have to others. I could not ask for anything better. I do not know what I can ever do to make myself deserving of you."

"If you were serious about no more hiding, that's all I need. I just want you to love me as much as I love you, and I want everyone to know it."

"I do love you, and as much as I am enjoying the view, put that scrub shirt on and we will go back out there and take our places on the stage, together."

And that is what we did; walked out there, hand in hand, and joined the rest of the panel. Kwame was speaking about the dangers of allowing false information to skew people's ideas of HIV, AIDS, and those who are affected by it. I did not mean for our entrance to cause a distraction, but I could not help but notice his quirked eyebrow, Gi's gaping mouth, or Ma-Ti's smug smile. Even David Beckham gave Wheeler a nod…I am sure it had nothing to do with me and more to do with his valiant actions earlier…probably.

I am fortunate that Wheeler has waited for me all these years. He is the brightest star in this room and I am the luckiest girl in the world.

**THE END**


End file.
